City won’t appeal condo assessment ruling

The city of Homer will not appeal a ruling last month by Superior Court Judge Huguelet in favor of Ken Castner, the condominium owner who challenged the city’s assessment rules for condominium in the Homer Natural Gas Special Assessment District. Castner filed a lawsuit against assessing individual condo units. Huguelet found for Castner, ruling that a gas line brought one pipe to a lot, and all lots should be treated the same and assessed on a per-lot basis.

“I think it’s the correct decision. I’m glad to put it behind me and I look forward to them rewriting their ordinance,” Castner said.

The city had until the end of the day Monday to file an appeal. The city had been considering its response over the past few weeks, City Manager Walt Wrede said in a press release on Wednesday. Wrede said that although the city felt it could win on appeal, it reviewed the costs of an appeal and decided that “on balance, it was in the overall best interest of the community to accept the judge’s decision and move on,” he said.

The city will adjust the assessment roll on a regular basis and make appropriate adjustments based on construction costs and other considerations, Wrede said. The ruling will be one such adjustment.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.

 

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